36 I apologize

The wizard's thin brows perked upwards. Then he shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"Before that," I glanced sideways, feeling conscious at the passing maids and footmen who were on their ways to do random tasks. "Could we go somewhere more...?"

"Private?" Lavi asked, as if reading my mind. "Alright, I got you."

'But not outside', I wanted to say. I was too late, as Lavi had already magically wisped us up into another location. As the scene finally came into view, I realized that this was nowhere inside the mansion. Up ahead was a wide opening that was big enough to overlook a vast field of grass beyond yonder. Rosebushes scattered along the surroundings, lined up in different directions to form a maze of greenery. We were deep into the gardens—at least that was what I thought of. Just how massive was the ducal estate?

Anxiety rushed through me as I checked myself, only to find out that I was completely fine—no rashes, none of the choking feel and definitely not about to faint either. I quickly sought for Lavi, who was just behind me as I whirled, already seated at a wooden bench below a wide arch of red, pink and white roses.

"My allergy… did you do something?"

"I set up a tiny invisible force field around you." said Lavi, elbow on the armrest.

My heart swelled with hope.

"Only lasts for an hour though."

"Oh."

Right, what did I expect? Magic doesn't solve everything.

I took the time to appreciate the decoration above the bench before sitting beside Lavi. The afternoon sun seemed bright and scorching but I did not feel the heat whatsoever. This must be due to Lavi's force field. If anything, I felt quite cold.

"So, what is it about?" Lavi began.

"It's about last time." I said while fidgeting on the outer layer of ruffled silk on my light blue skirt.

I could feel him tilt his head on one side, maybe leaning his face on his hand. "Right, I guessed as much."

"Guessed what?" I asked—head still low and eyes focused on my busy fingers.

"That you'd feel bad for the way you acted in front of us."

Again with this sense of familiarity, how come he knew exactly what I wanted to say?

"I apologize for that."

"Apology accepted."

That fast? Okay, then. Thank goodness.

I let out a breath of relief before speaking, "It's just… everything about it has been so frustrating. And it just makes me angry when..."

"When you feel like you don't know everything about yourself?"

I almost flinched, what he said hit right on the mark.

"Yes, that's right," This time, my hands found their way onto the ends of my braided hair. "Being told that you have something inside you—that not-so-surprisingly, belonged to a goddess, our goddess that we so love and worship, and this 'thing' is supposed to give me the almighty power to control light or whatever. All of it just sounds so weird and stupid, you know?"

"I don't know about you, but," Lavi shrugged as he spoke, it made his arm brush into mine. This bench left little room for the space between us. "It actually sounds pretty cool to me."

I blinked. "What?"

"I mean think about it. Being able to manipulate light however you want, you can do lots of improbable things. You can have picnics at night, go night-swimming without getting pricked by a sea urchin, hunt night wolves and a whole lot more." Lavi chuckled.

"Okay but, did all those really have to come with the word 'night'?"

"Why not? Everything becomes so boring when nighttime comes."

"So you'll use me to make it fun?"

"Exactly."

I let a giggle escape as I shook my head, thinking that this conversation was becoming more and more nonsensical—but livelier.

"Seriously though, I've also been thinking about it."

"About what?"

"Alright, listen to this," Lavi shifted on his seat which made me face him. Our eyes locked into each other. I averted my gaze quickly but he continued. This was not the time to be blushing. "High Priest Marcus said that your allergy is the side effect of not using the Pure Light for so long. Then wouldn't it be a good idea to unleash your powers and finally get rid of that cursed sickness?"

I bit my lip and closed my eyes for a second before replying. "Look, you saw it the other day, didn't you? I tried, but nothing happened."

"Well that was because you didn't believe that you could do it."

Why does he read me so accurately every time? Has he always been like this?

"How do you know that?" I asked, challenging him.

"I just know." Lavi said. "You see, I think it's like magic. It only comes to you when you truly believe it and acknowledge its existence. That it's there inside you, waiting for you to heed it."

"Well I'm no wizard." I replied, my gaze far into the green plane of land just across. "And I did 'heed' it, there was just no answer—since it has never been there in the first place."

Lavi snickered beside me. "By the goddess, Calla, there is no getting to that stubborn head of yours."

Good, he seems to have given up.

"I'm just a normal girl, I'm telling you."

He cocked his head back. "Normal? What's so fun about being normal?"

"Lots of things—like not being the center of attention and away from danger, maybe?"

For me, in my past life and now, it had always been a luxury to live, eat, sleep and study normally. And perhaps fall in love without all the troubles.

"You do know that you haven't been normal since the day you called out perithia from afar, spun it into a big ball of life force enough for it to explode and extinguish the fire and heal the wounded?" I could see his fingers land on his chin. "If that's normal for you, then, I don't know what is."

What I'd just heard made my heart skip a beat. My fingers froze from fiddling the ends of my hair. Silence reigned for a good couple of seconds. I didn't know what to say, what to think.

Then Lavi cleared his throat. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. That was out of line, I'm sorry."

He said sorry twice. Lavi must really feel bad. And now I feel bad because he feels bad.

I let out a calm breath before replying, "No, no- It's fine, really. It was a direct slap on the face," I said whilst laughing gently. "I'm going to have to think about it in a whole different perspective, thanks to you."

It was an honest and sincere gratitude.

"So, can you tell the others that I'm sorry?" I switched the topic. I'd had enough talking about me.

"They're probably not thinking too hard about it but," Lavi's tone sounded brighter. "Alright sure, I'll let them know. But a trip to the palace gives me the jitters."

I snorted. "That bad?"

"More than you can imagine. It makes me think that the courtiers would die without gossiping every time someone passes by." Lavi threw a hand in the air, but he was laughing.

"You must have been quite the topic." I teased.

"I'll say, I mean—talented in the Magical Arts, handsome, smart, and most especially-"

"A brat."

"Exactly, wait what?"

Who was that just now? The both of us stood up and turned to the owner of the voice. To my surprise, the person was Lavi's father, standing from a few distances from us. His expression was grim while he crossed his arms.

"Oh shit." Lavi hissed, inching closer to me.

The Northwestern Duke trudged closer, brows furrowed. I could feel Lavi shrink behind me as he clutched my arm. Was he expecting me to protect him?

The perfectly-tied ponytail swept past me and as I turned to look, the father was already pinching the ear of his problematic son. I squinted, as if feeling the pain myself.

"Ah! Ow-ow-ow! Ouch!" Lavi shrieked repeatedly.

But the Duke didn't let go, instead he raised his hand even more. "You little rascal, I've been looking everywhere for you, do you know that? And do you know what day today is?"

For a short while, Lavi didn't answer. Then his golden-hazel eyes enlarged, his face registered panic. "A-Anniversary…"

"That's right, and if it weren't for you carelessly leaving trails of your magic at the entrance hall, your mother would have roasted me to be served as a dish to celebrate our twenty-five years of marriage."

"I'm sorry, father."

Lavi looked awfully apologetic. His mother must really be frightening.

"Pardon me, young lady. I shall now take away my son from you for the meantime." Duke Achilleas said, while letting go of Lavi's reddened ear.

"No, do take him for as long as you want. We were done talking anyways." I lifted the sides of my lips. "Well then, I shall go first, my Duke."

Lavi's father nodded.

I curtsied before turning back, but not before mouthing 'good luck' to Lavi. He smiled, but his eyes did not. How cute.

There were a few minutes left before Lavi's force field expired, so I decided to use the remaining bit of time to wade myself out of this garden.

My ears caught a muffled conversation before I got far enough.

"Enjoyed your date, you little sneak?"

A groan echoed along the late-afternoon breeze. "It was not a date."

I continued to walk away, internally laughing at the thought of the bickering father and son who wore matching robes of black and gold as their blue hair flowed straightly.

'A twenty-five-year anniversary, huh? Must be nice', I thought while looking up into the brilliantly hazy and orange horizon.